1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a refrigerator and, more particularly, to a door gasket mounting structure for a refrigerator that allows the door liner of the refrigerator to be easily formed and facilitates the insertion of the door gasket into the mounting structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, the interior of a refrigerator is divided into a freezer compartment and a fresh food compartment by means of a barrier. Such freezer and fresh food compartments are selectively opened and closed by means of compartment doors. Gaskets made of soft synthetic resin or rubber are respectively mounted along the inner peripheral portions of the compartment doors. Such gaskets are constructed to prevent cold air in the compartments from leaking out of the compartments while the compartment doors are closed.
FIG. 1 is a cross section showing a state where a general gasket is mounted to a conventional door gasket mounting structure formed on the inside surface of a refrigerator door. As illustrated in the drawing, the general gasket 10 comprises a magnet holding compartment 12, three vacant compartments 14a, 14b and 14c and an engagement projection 16.
The magnet holding compartment 12 holds a magnet (not shown) in its interior and is capable of adhering to the front portion of the main body of the refrigerator. The vacant compartments 14a, 14b and 14c are positioned between the interior and exterior of the refrigerator while the magnet holding compartment is brought into contact with the front portion of the main body of the refrigerator. The vacant compartments 14a, 14b and 14c function to insulate the interior of the refrigerator from the exterior of the refrigerator.
The engagement projection 16 is formed on the outer surfaces of the vacant compartments 14b and 14c, and is engaged with the engagement groove (will be described) of the door liner (will be described). The engagement projection 16 has an anchor portion 16a that is rearward projected at a certain inclined angle from its outer end. The engagement projection 16 serves to prevent the gasket 10 inserted into the engagement groove from being removed.
The door liner 20 forming the inner surface of the door may be made of synthetic resin such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene resin (ABS). The door liner 20 has a structure for mounting the above-described gasket 10 to the door. As illustrated in the drawing, the engagement groove 22, into which the engagement projection 16 of the gasket 10 is inserted, is formed on the door liner 20. The engagement groove 22 is bilaterally symmetrically formed on the door liner 20. The engagement groove 22 has a relatively narrow entrance throat so as to prevent the inserted engagement projection 16 from being undesirably removed out of the engagement groove 22. Accordingly, two laterally projected portions 21a and 21b are formed in the entrance portion of the engagement groove 22. The anchor portion 16a of the engagement projection 16 is brought into contact with the laterally projected portions 21a and 21b when the engagement projection 16 is inserted into the engagement groove 22 of the door liner 20, thereby preventing the gasket 10 from being removed out of the engagement groove 22.
However, the conventional gasket mounting structure causes a shortcoming in which the door liner 20 becomes complicated in construction. In other words, since the two laterally projected portions 21a and 21b are bilaterally symmetrically formed on both sides of the engagement groove 22, the door liner 20 may be inferiorly formed.
The door liner 20 is fabricated in such a way that synthetic resin in the form of a plate is sucked into a mold by means of vacuum while pressure is exerted on the synthetic resin. In such a case, it is difficult to form the laterally projected portions 21a and 21b properly.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gasket mounting structure for a refrigerator that allows the door liner of the refrigerator to be easily formed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a gasket mounting structure for a refrigerator that facilitates the insertion of the door gasket into the mounting structure.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a door gasket mounting structure for a refrigerator, comprising: an engagement groove for accommodating the engagement portion of a door gasket, the engagement groove being formed along the peripheral portion of a door liner; and a laterally projected portion for holding the engagement portion of the door gasket while the door gasket has been inserted into the engagement groove, the laterally projected portion being formed on one of either side of an entrance portion of the engagement groove.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the laterally projected portion comprises a plurality of laterally projected portion parts, the laterally projected portion parts being alternately formed on both sides of the entrance portion of the engagement groove.